Kage of Swords
by snickerslv100
Summary: Zelretch does some mumbo jumbo with parallel realities to psychically connect Shirou Emiya and Naruto Uzumaki subconsciously.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Any material that could potentially be considered infringement of copyrights and trademarks should be considered the property of their respective creators or owners and you are reading this of your own freewill, so please refrain from doing so if you don't like graphic violence, explicit sexuality, pop culture references, vulgar language, polygamous relationships, random plot twists, character deaths, snakes, arranged marriages, or usage of drugs. Of course, some of those things may not even end up in the story, but I'd rather be better safe than sorry. Also, I tend to give canon the proverbial finger.**

**Story Notes: This is a work-in-progress plot blurb without a definite direction for the plot as of now, so I'm perfectly open to suggestions. Reviews containing constructive criticism and praise will certainly speed up the updating; flames make my ego spontaneously implode with my muse following close behind, so try and refrain from that if you can. I'm writing this to flex my creative side and refine my writing, so don't be surprised if entire chapters get completely changed after they're initially uploaded. There are many clichés and stereotypes in fanfiction because it's been around for so long; I try for originality in my own way, and will likely give a shout-out to whatever other story gave me a basic idea or concept, though I've been reading for a long time and will likely forget where something came from. (Look through my favorites and add up the total word count...)**

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><p>In a crouch, the Fourth Hokage appeared on top of the most vertical rock that represented his spiky hair, and a gentle breeze ruffled his actual golden locks. The Nine-Tailed Fox noticed his presence immediately and turned its attention towards the most dangerous threat to its existence. The blond man stood up straight, the wind dramatically blowing his hair and haori to his left as it whipped by him. "So it noticed me already," he commented dryly and watched as the Nine-Tails pulled its chakra to its mouth, condensing it into a large and lethal ball of energy.<p>

The golden-haired shinobi retaliated, his hands glowing with power even as he whipped out one of his infamous tri-pronged kunai. As he began to run through some hand seals while the Tailed Beast launched its attack at him, a large sealing array of glowing black symbols appeared in front of Minato, the concave dome enshrouding the powerful attack before phasing out of existence. The small blade vibrated minutely to let him know that the spatial transit of the hostile attack was successful.

The resulting blast appeared five miles behind Konoha, clearly visible even from such a great distance.

The blond ninja's face remained grim and determined though. He'd managed to divert one of the Fox's attacks, but he wouldn't be able to keep up his space-time techniques as long as that monstrous construct of energy could keep up its Tailed Beast Balls. If this remained a battle of attrition, he would sorely lose; he just didn't have enough stamina to continue using such draining abilities. However, that fact that he could successfully avoid a Tailed Beast's wrath meant that he was the immovable object in the face of an unstoppable force. The thought of him standing up to such an enormous creature in such a fashion really emphasized just how far he'd come over the past few years.

His eyes darted across the village, until he spotted his predecessor among the rallied shinobi. He had to rendzevous with the Third Hokage, to inform him of the mysterious man's plot to destroy the Hidden Leaf. But as he prepared to Body-Flicker to the older man's position, he was he was interrupted by the the said masked individual. Just the sight of the man made Minato clench up in anger. This bastard had attacked discerned the secret location of his wife's birthing, successfully infiltrated the fortified sanctuary, stealthily killed his Honor Guard of elite ANBU, and stolen his infant right out from under his nose.

All to release the Nine-Tails from it's container, Kushina, whose seal keeping the Demon Fox at bay was weakened during the last throes of her labor. In that respect, that man was successful. He got results, Minato would give him that, but the bastard crossed a line that should never be crossed: he fucked with the Hokage's loved ones.

The corners of the Lord Fourth's cape whipped around in the wind that was left in his wake, the byproduct of his insane speed. His blood felt like it was chilled, as if somebody replaced his blood with liquid nitrogen. The unusual chill helped harden his disposition even further, and provide the crystalline clarity of a chip of water to his radical mind. In less time than it takes for a humming bird to flap its wings once, the Yellow Flash traversed almost a hundred meters, drive one of his signature kunai knives into the cloaked man's head.

But battles between two immeasurably powerful shinobi were never so cut and dry as that. The amount of force he created from his insane dash combined with the sharp edge of his knife would have been enough to penetrate through armor and bone with minimal effort. But there should have been some amount of resistance to the weapon's passage, some way for him to know that he struck a solid entity rather than an illusion. But the blade phased through his enemy as if the infiltrator was a ghost. And as the blade cleared his body, his opponent reached out and grabbed the Hokage's arm.

His mind racing with possibilities, the Yellow Flash immediately realized that his opponent was using a space-time technique on his own body. The technique was simple in aesthetics, appearing to make someone insubstantial. But he felt the warping of the world, and he knew that there was far more to this than just passing through solid objects. But deploying such a technique on one's own body without absolutely perfect control would be disastrous... Whoever he was facing had enormous innate ability, for this was not something that could be done through trial and error.

"…And we're done," said the masked individual. Still entangled with his foe, Minato could only look on in cold anger as a vortex of swirling and warping reality expanded forth from his assailant's eyeball. He didn't want to get caught in that attack no matter what, and finally deigned to use his Flying Thunder God technique to teleport away. His escape was unplanned, and as a result uncoordinated, so he skidded across the ground with a grunt when he reappeared next to one of his signed kunai.

A humming sound filled the air, and another vortex appeared. His unrelenting attacker was spat out by the twisting warp of reality, solidifying and melodramatically proclaiming, "You won't escape me so easily."

As the two opposing men stared each other down, the blond ninja's remarkable brain was searching for an expedient solution. He knew that the man faced had easily defeated the ANBU under the direct command of the Third Hokage, got past the most top-secret barrier to infiltrate the top-secret cave and kidnap his top-secret son right out from under his nose, and must have known the seal would be weak while Kushina was giving birth…Then with the seal undone he took the Fox and marched straight into Konoha without so much as pausing to deal with the barrier.

Knowing that the man before him could control the Fox, wield space-time techniques that far exceeded that of the Second Hokage, and clearly had evil intentions, the Fourth Hokage decided to kill him before he became a greater threat than the Tailed Beast. Minato stood, preparing to fight, a plan already formed in his mind. The masked man charged at him, a chain, hooked to both wrists, trailing behind him.

As the drew close, the ghostly man phased through the Yellow Flash's body, and the chain, upon reaching the Fourth Hokage, wrapped around him in an attempt to stop his movements. When the wielder of the Sharingan tried to rip the chain through the Hokage's torso, the blond ninja activated his Flying Thunder God technique again and teleported to the special kunai that he had used to arrive earlier, escaping the would-be fatal attack. That single exchange was enough for the Fourth Hokage to understand the masked man's strategy as he glanced over his shoulder, eying the ghostly man who returned the stare.

They dashed again, but this time, Minato was armed with another of his special kunai. When they were but five feet from one another, Minato threw his kunai forward with the force of a major league baseball pitcher, watching as it phased through the masked man's head, just as he expected. After the pommel of the blade finished passing through him, the bearer of the Sharingan reached forward to grab a hold of Naruto's father. But a Rasengan had already formed in Namikaze's hand.

In a dizzying display of ferocity and skill, the elusive man briefly touched the Yellow Flash's shoulder. But then the man disappeared in a Yellow Flash. The cloaked man shouted in both surprise and agony when Minato suddenly reappeared above him, thrusting the spiraling sphere of power into his back. The most potent example of shape manipulation known to shinobi shredded through the cloak and pierced the flesh while it drove the ghostly man into the dirt.

The mysterious man slipped away with a pained groan, phasing through everything in his path to give himself some space. His left arm was dripping copious amounts of blood and he couldn't move it. A glaring Minato materialized before him in another impressive display of agility, a kunai poised in his left hand to gut the apparent Uchiha. The golden-haired Hokage's right hand was planted on the masked man's torso, placing contract seal on him. "Are you trying to pull the Nine-Tails from my control?" asked the ghostly man blankly.

"No," the Yellow Flash retorted. "I already did." In the far distance, both could see that the Sharingan superimposing the Nine-Tails's real eyes disappeared. And then a brutal roar of triumph erupted from the titanic monster, seeming to shake the entire world. Sure it was freed from the control of the masked terrorist, but now the Fox going to go on a bloody rampage anyway.

Deciding to cut his losses, the masked man twisted out of Minato's grip and jumped to a thick branch overlooking the scene of their battle. He then disappeared in another vortex.

From his position on the forest floor, the Fourth Hokage glared at where the man had been standing. Something told him that the man wasn't lying, but he had other things to deal with at the moment. "Summoning Technique!" he cried out dramatically. With a large plume of smoke, the large toad, Gamabunta appeared with the Fourth atop his head, landing directly on the fox's shoulders and subsequently driving the most powerful of the Tailed Beasts into the earth. Unfortunately, the beast was in the middle of charging up one of its devastating chakra sphere blasts.

In a last ditch attempt to destroy everything, the fox swiveled its head around. An evil glint entered its crimson eyes, and it lined its shot up with the tired and scraped up Third Hokage. The old man's eyes widened in fear for the lives of his people as the fox prepared to detonate, but they were all saved at the last second when Gamabunta landed on the ground with a resounding thud. The Yellow Flash used his Flying Thunder God to transport the Fox and enormous attack away from the village.

He was answered immediately when the fox's attack detonated over ten miles away.

With an incredibly loud rumble, the fox collapsed on the ground, unable to cope with the abrupt transit. It took it a moment to take in the new scenery, and the only thing it could see of human construction were a small group of houses that it chose to smash with its paw. But the Fourth Hokage was able to rescue his wife and son from certain death and held onto them as he appeared in a tree via the use of Body-Flicker. The Yellow Flash groaned as he began to feel the drain on his chakra from all of his techniques. It was coupled with the oppressive aura that radiated from the beast, and he was being to feel horrible.

"My chakra's almost drained…" Kushina mentioned, the bags under her eyes as pronounced as the tiny whisker marks that adorned their baby's cheeks. With a strained effort, the blond ninja erected an intertwining cage like barrier that prevented the fox from escaping, and Kushina used what chakra she could spare. With a combination of the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline abilities and familial techniques, she produced chakra chains that wound around the fox and held it in place. Minato truly admired her tenacity.

The Nine-Tails began to struggle against it's bindings, and roared angrily, the incredible vibrations emanating from its throat and mouth enough to sway trees. Kushina dropped to her hands and knees and began to tremble in her efforts to keep her old prisoner at bay. Surprisingly, the sound of her weakened body hitting the ground was what woke the little baby Naruto. In panic, Minato cried out to his wife, "Kushina!" She did not look very good. Seeing her in such a state really hit the severity of their situation home, that these could be their final moments.

"Sorry Naruto I didn't…" she huffed, ignoring her spouse in favor of looking at her vulpine baby for a few more minutes, "...mean to wake you…" Now, she turned to Minato, who already knew what she was going to say but couldn't bare the thought of it. His worst fears were confirmed when she spoke, "I'll drag the Nine-Tails back, and die with it inside me. That'll prevent it from coming back for a while. It's the only way to save you both with the little bit of chakra I have left. Thank you for everything..."

She finished speaking, tears fell unabashed from Minato's cerulean eyes. With as strong a voice as he could muster, the Fourth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves spoke, "Kushina, you made me your husband. You made me into the Fourth Hokage. You made me this boy's father! And I…"

His dying wife cut off his rant as the baby in his arm cried out in discontent, "Don't look so sad Minato. I'm happy that you loved me, happy that it's our son's birthday, happy that I got to meet you. If I try to imagine surviving, and the three of us living together... I can't think of anything beyond, 'I'd be so happy.'" He too pictured the scene in his mind, and he let his hot tears ran down his face in a single display of emotion, breaking the cardinal rule of the shinobi: never cry. "If I had any regrets..." Kushina stated as she looked at the newborn in his father's arms, "...they would be that I won't see Naruto grow up."

The young husband wiped the tears from his eyes and spoke out, "Kushina, you don't need to take the Fox down with you. We can use the last of our chakra to see Naruto one more time. I'll seal the last of your chakra in Naruto using the Eight Trigram Seal. Then I'll lead the Fox away with a powerful seal, the Dead Demon Consuming Seal!"

"But that... the user will be-"

He continued onward, hoping that her distraught face didn't dissolve his constitution, "But I'll only be able to seal half the fox's power. It's just too great; its physically and conceptually impossible to completely seal it all. I can't let the Nine-Tails be revived without a container. The balance of Tailed Beasts will be destroyed. But with the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, I can permanently seal half the fox's power along with myself. And the remaining half..." the Fourth Hokage looked down once more and noticed that Naruto had cried himself back to sleep and finished his train of thought concerning Naruto and the fox, "I'll seal the remaining half inside Naruto with the Eight Trigram Seal."

Kushina looked like she was about to protest but the Yellow Flash explained, "I know what you want to say, but Jiraiya-sensei spoke of the world undergoing a revolution, and with it, a great disaster. Tonight I've confirmed two things. The first is that masked man, the one who attacked you, is the harbinger of that disaster. And Naruto... will be the one to stop him. The power of human sacrifice will blaze the trail to the future. I just know it."

At this time, with his trusty companion Enma in his staff form, Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, landed in a crouch just outside the barrier that Minato used to protect the rest of the world from the fox's destructive capabilities.

Back in the barrier, Kushina watched as Naruto was laid on the ground and tried to protest again, but the blond ninja merely flashed through the nine hand seals to mold his chakra to summon the Shinigami. As the spectral spirit eater materialized behind him, visible to only himself, he said with a smile, "Have a little faith. He is our son after all. Once I've finished the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, I'll place your remaining chakra in Naruto as well. You'll meet the grown up Naruto sooner than you think. The time will come when he'll attempt to take control of the fox's power. I want you there to help him."

"Our son…"

"That's why! I don't want him to bear such a heavy burden all on his own!" the Fourth Hokage yelled fiercely, tears still spilling down his perfect face. He closed his eyes and bowed his head.

Kushina though, decided to argue the point anyways, now that the Yellow Flash had finished his speech, "But why the Dead Demon Consuming Seal? There's no reason for you to die, just so I can see him for a few minutes when he's older. I wanted you to be there for him, I wanted you to raise him! Why are you sacrificing _Naruto _just to preserve the balance of the Tailed Beasts? To save the village? To save the country? Why are you sacrificing yourself for me?"

"Turning your back on the village, on the country, is just as bad as abandoning a child. You should understand; you saw your own country fall apart. You know the pain of growing up without a home of your own…and you know that we are a family of shinobi." Kushina would have likely argued, but settled for a glare as her spouse continued to try and justify what he was about to do, "Besides, even if I lived I could never be a substitute for you."

"…What…?"

"There are things Naruto needs to be told; things I could never say myself. That's the mother's job, and I need you to carry it out even if you only have the briefest of moment's to do so. This isn't just for you. This is for Naruto." At this point he knelt down and picked up his baby once more and settled right in front of his wife. "Dying to make life better for his son... that's the stuff you let the father handle."

Understanding slowly began to manifest itself on her face, but Kushina tried so steel her eyes in a last ditch effort to go with her plan and save her son the life of many containers since the first ones of ages long past – a life of neglect and hatred. One she was one of the very few to have been lucky to have missed. But her husband would not be deterred and held the visage that struck fear into the hearts of many of the Hidden Stone's shinobi during the Third Great War.

From his position, Sarutobi was finally able to get a glance of something and in fear he gasped, "It can't be. The Dead Demon Consuming Seal? We're too late!" he cried. "They've put up a barrier around the Nine-Tails. Whatever they're doing, they're doing it alone, without our support." With a cry, he tried to use his own chakra to force his way into the barrier and help the Namikaze family. But it would prove futile.

Now, the devourer of spirits was ready and thrust his hand through Minato's stomach from behind and out the front and grabbed onto the monstrosity that towered over him. The Fox, unable to speak because of Kushina's chakra bindings, mentally cursed as it felt its power being ripped in two. "SEAL!" the blond ninja exclaimed, and the Nine-Tails roared as it felt half of its life force, forcibly rent asunder from its body and pulled away, with no way to prevent it.

"I can't believe he actually used it..." Sarutobi breathed in shock. It was the most powerful self sacrificial seal for a reason, but to see such a powerful sealing technique used against a Tailed Beast was breathtakingly scary sight.

"Now for the Eight Trigrams Seal!" the Yellow Flash called out. "I'm going to seal the Nine-Tails inside Naruto!"

A puff of smoke followed and a ritual style altar appeared. From its now shrunken size, the Nine-Tails was able to recognize the altar as the ceremonial throne, and realized now that the Fourth Hokage was truly intent on sealing it within the blonde babe. It began to look hopeless for the beast but Kushina's chakra and strength began to fade as she started to wobble and be racked with searing coughs that in turn caused her control over the chakra chains to lessen just enough for the Nine-Tails to try and counterattack the Fourth and his wife.

"KUSHINA, STAY WITH ME!" Minato screamed with all the force he could muster, as he quickly turned from the throne he had just laid Naruto on.

The Nine-Tails raised its right forepaw in preparation for a final blow, but Minato jumped in the way of demon's claw and used his own body to stop the attack from martyring his son. And, Kushina was able to refocus enough to re-ensnare the beast once more, ensuring its unwilling stillness. The blood soaked claw stopped a mere three inches above Naruto's chin and the both dying parents breathed a sigh of relief.

"If the father can do his job…" Minato said, trying to alleviate some stress.

Kushina picked up on it, and completed the thought, "Then the mother should be even better, right?"

Sarutobi, still outside the barrier, muttered in astonishment, "Is that their child?"

"_**DAMNED HUMANS!**_" the Nine-Tails growled in indignation.

Ignoring the fox, Kushina glanced behind her where her husband was impaled on the claw directly behind her, as she sat on said claw and rasped, "You win... the first... argument... you've ever won. I guess... you're really serious..."

He chuckled, "Thank you... Kushina..." Working as quickly as he could, the Fourth Hokage quickly summoned a toad. "Gamatora... I'm entrusting you... with the key... to this seal..." Minato rasped, forced to work fast as his life force waned. "Hurry to Jiraiya... store it within him..." With that, he plunged his hand into the toad's gut which cause a scroll to wrap around him and extend his height to that of a full grown man.

From his spot, Sarutobi finally pieced together the puzzle, "I see. Lord Fourth intends to save the village by making his son the new container of the Nine-Tails."

"Got it," Gamatora proclaimed as the seal's key rolled up on the scroll. "Goodbye, Minato Namikaze. We, the Toads of Myobokuzan, will always remember you. You... were my favorite summoner..."

"That does it…" Minato muttered as the toad disappeared to carry out its mission. "It's time for me to go Kushina. I'm going to perform the Eight Trigrams Seal, and try to leave a little of my own chakra in Naruto too! We don't have much time. If you have anything to say to Naruto…"

Kushina bowed her head in understanding, too tired to nod fully and huffed out with the last of her strength, "Naruto don't be a fussy eater... eat a lot and grow up to be a big boy... Take your bath everyday... go to bed early and sleep well... Make friends... it doesn't matter how many... just make sure they're real friends... people you can trust... even a few is enough... And study your ninjutsu... I was better at kenjutsu and taijutsu... maybe you will be too… everyone has things they're good and things they're not... don't feel bad if you can't do it all... Make sure to listen to your teachers at the Academy... And remember to avoid the three vices of shinobi... don't borrow money if you can help it... save what you earn from missions... No drinking alcohol until you're 20... and don't overdo it or you'll ruin your body... And, as for women… well, I'm a woman so I don't know what to say... but there are only men and women in the world..." She paused to smile as blood poured out of her mouth as it rose up from the pit of her stomach and spoke again with tears streaming down her face, "Naruto... you're going to experience a lot of pain and suffering... Remember who you are... Find a goal, a dream… and don't stop trying until it comes true... There's so much more I want to say... to teach you about... I want to stay with you... I love you..." the Fourth Hokage sighed but kept his mouth shut and Kushina realized, "I'm sorry Minato... I took all our time..."

"It's okay..." he supplied. "Naruto... this is your dad. Listen to your motor mouth mother... Seal!" And thus Naruto, the legacy of the Uzumaki clan and Fourth Hokage, became the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's container.  
>_<p>

A man was standing off to the side. He was silver-haired and possessing a fine beard. There was a timeless quality about him, as if he were incapable of truly aging beyond what he currently was. His crimson eyes glittered with unshed tears at the event that he just witnessed. He was a person capable of traveling to alternate realities, utilizing the true magic of the Kaleidoscope. And nothing that he'd seen so far had left him in as much emotional turmoil as the spectacle that occurred right before him.

Originally, he had been drawn to this rendition of existence because he detected an unusual amount of dimensional shifting; magically induced dimensional shifting, to be more precise. Oh the terminology was certainly different, and a lot of the specificity was lost in translation between the predominant language of the people in this world and any that he was familiar with, but it was all essentially magecraft elevated to an entirely different plane of existence. The world had fascinated him, and he had come back at regular intervals to check up on the place, noting the descendants of his casual acquaintances becoming capable of things that even he couldn't combat.

But he couldn't play the part of a casual observer any longer. Not anymore, after seeing that grand display.

He hadn't interfered with the fates of those two poetic heroes, the powerful duo capable of holding their own against a seemingly unstoppable force, because he'd done similar things in the past. If an 'outsider' saved the life of an 'insider', the reality making up the insider's existence would twist and warp, altering probability and chance to make their lives a shallow husk of what it should have been; those people invariably committed suicide or died in very anticlimactic ways. And if what he was able to deduce through the courageous actions crimson-haired woman and golden-haired man was any indication, those two deserved a powerful ending.

But, he could make up for his inability to aid them. In a world where something as amazing as walking on water was considered to be a basic skill it really meant something that he could sense enormous potential in the child, the son of those two beautiful people. That infant, crying in the center of a primitive altar, had the capacity to bend fate itself. The silver-haired immortal had the ability to 'see the future' by calculating variables and probabilities in the current frame of time and project their implications into the future.

This world of shinobi and their incredible gifts would become embroiled in an all-consuming war, and this boy named Naruto was the key to its salvation. But, without proper guidance during his formative years, the child would never be able to make it through his trials and tribulations leading up to the titanic struggle that he would need to be a part of. Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg nodded silently to himself, before dropping his bounded field and revealing his presence to all who witnessed the final moments of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze.

Accessing the knowledge of over a dozen other versions of himself, the Wizard Marshall forged a psychic connection between himself and the child. This connection would be indirect and implicit, but it would be able to traverse dimensions with him. While the connection was tentative at best due to their low rate of compatibility, he could find somebody that was completely compatible with the child and transfer it to them. Then he would train this individual, and allow the skills to transfer slowly over to this boy.

His plan in place, the man known as Kaleidoscope disappeared from the world of shinobi. His actions would create reverberations between the realities of this one and his homeworld...

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><p><strong>Author's Note: So... was it good for you? If you would kindly<strong>** review, favorite, follow, and/or share the story with communities, I would greatly appreciate it. As a perfectionist, I take great pride in my work and even more so in the fact that I don't have a BETA Reader going over every single detail. If you notice something grammatically or mechanically incorrect, please let me know. If there is a difference in lore between this and the source material that you dislike, that is either on purpose for the sake of story telling, or simply to make the story that much more interesting in my opinion.**

***Any passages denoted as such are either direct quotes or paraphrases from the books or other works of fanfiction and will be cited at the bottom of the chapter...* ****Also I'd like to apologize in advance for an occasional problem. You may notice a lack of space between italicized and non-italicized words heavily prevalent in some chapters, and that is entirely the fault of this website's uploading. I hope it doesn't turn you off or anything. I also hope it doesn't turn you on, though for entirely different reasons.**

**Anyways... ahem... this story was inspired by ****several other stories that I can't think of off the top of my head****. Basically, look at my favorite stories tab on my profile, and you've got nearly a hundred stories that are all superb, though not all are for these series. On a side note, what would you rate each of the below categories for this chapter: **Plot Progression, Characterization****, Environmental Imagery, **Emotive Descriptions**, Action Sequences, Verisimilitude, **Grammar and Syntax**, **and Writing Style?******


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yes I am plagiarizing myself. I don't think it should be an issue, since I am the one who wrote it anyway (portions of this chapter are from my other story Child of Prophesy but they'll diverge soon enough). Some people have gotten snippy with me over it. Seriously just write something yourself if you really care that much. Goodness.**

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><p><span>World of Gaia<span>

The young boy was sitting in a white hospital bed. His body was riddled with burns, and pain was the only aspect of his existence that he could perceive. The child did not cry out though. The child did not weep in despair for the things he'd seen. What he'd been through was beyond what most people could even imagine. Even now, he could hear the anguished cries of the fallen diminishing, and the roar of the fire growing as it fed on their charring bodies. The imolation had hungrily consumed everything, and an overbearing sense of malice had emanated from them.

He had walked past all of them, the people pleading for help or screaming in agony, not helping a single one. His body forced him to keep moving through that hellish nightmare of ashes and smoke. With every step, a piece of his soul seemed to wither up and die, and the sheer malevolence of the fire seemed to grow. It took a sacrifice for his every movement, and instinct was driving him to move more than his body should have been physically capable of. Every uncontrolled shamble of a step was a new scar to his psyche, yet he still moved on through the trauma.

His deadened brown eyes were unseeing, yet he saw an image that would be forever imprinted into his mind. Clouds of smoke and ash were blotting out the fiery sun of an eternal twilight, and monolithic gears defied logic and gravity as they shifted through the bloody sky; a parched hill rose out of a desolate landscape, littered with bladed weapons sticking out of the cracked earth like tombstones; at the precipice of the hill was a statue on a pedestal, though he couldn't make out its blurred features. He hadn't been able to decide whether this was his salvation from the flames or some new form of damnation thrust upon him.

And just like that the world was gone, phasing out of existence and being replaced with the flickering light and searing heat, crackling flames and sizzling mortar. The city had been in ruins, nothing more than molten slag amidst rubble and debris. The screaming had ended long ago, leaving him alone with the shadows and flames, arduously trekking along. His body finally gave out, and he fell to the ground, unable to feel anything. Darkness finally won out, filling his world.

But then somebody gently grabbed him, and he opened his eyes. A man in tattered clothes with disheveled long black hair. Tears were running down the man's face, but there was something wrong with them. There was no mistaking it; they were tears of joy, not tragic loss. Even amidst all of this horror, that man found something to be joyous about. And the boy could only feel thankfulness towards the man for saving his life even now, as he sat in his cold hospital bed wondering how the man had been able to be so happy. "Was it because he saved someone?" asked Shirou aloud.  
>_<p>

Kiritsugu Emiya brought home his new adopted son, Shirou Emiya later that night. After the red-haired boy got situated and finally fell asleep, the man of the house had an unexpected guest. "Wizard Marshall... to what do I owe the pleasure," he muttered in shock after opening his front door. He mentally went down a list of every person he'd ever assassinated or killed via crossfire while under the helm of the Magus Killer, and couldn't think of any person that the true sorcerer would want to avenge. Besides, everyone at the Mages Association was supposed to think he was dead-

"Magus Killer. I'm surprised to find you here, alive. No matter, I have no issues with you," said the Dead Apostle Ancestor.

"... To what do I owe this pleasure?" repeated Kiritsugu coolly, though he was quite shaken. Zelretch had a reputation for being one of the most unpredictable high rollers in the Clock Tower with a sense of humor that left something to be desired to the victims of his pranks. Any unexpected visits from the man tended to leave the recipients of his presence in addled states of mind; could replace people's minds with alternate versions of themselves from parallel universes just for the sake of it, and the Magus Killer _really_ didn't want to find out what his most embarrassing analogues were.

"I'm here on personal business," said the powerful man. "I'm working on a project of sorts, something that I could use your help with. There is a person in your house with a high, and quite frankly rare, compatibility with a certain... aspect of my project. I would like to speak with this individual." There wasn't an explicit demand, but Kiritsugu knew that there was no way that he'd be able to get in the way of the being in front of him.

"That would probably be my adopted son, Shirou. He just now got to sleep, and I'd really rather not wake him up..." said the assassin halfheartedly.

Zelretch accessed the database of knowledge shared with his other selves for anyone named Shirou, and came across information on one Shirou Emiya. This boy's potential was also astronomical, quite similar to Naruto's though not quite to such an elevated level. The Wizard Marshall smiled graciously, as more pieces of the puzzle clicked. "I'm perfectly amenable to waiting on the child. In the meantime, let's talk about some other things." After all, he'd waited almost three years before he sensed somebody with the adequate compatibility rate to the psychic connection; what's a little bit longer in the face of that?

Emiya felt his heart sink further at those words, and said, "Would you like to come in?" The other man nodded and they both walked into the dining area, sitting on the tatami mats with steaming cups of tea in barely a few moments. "So what would you like to discuss with me?" questioned the Magus Killer. He briefly entertained the possibility that Zelretch was going to order a hit on somebody, but that musing was ruthlessly dismissed before it could make his imagination run wild.

"Let's begin with the Holy Grail War. You had the wish granting device in the palm of your hand, yet you forced your Servant Saber to destroy it with her noble phantasm. Regardless of why you did it, this has set into motion a chain of events that is troublesome to say the least. Because of all that excess energy being dumped back into the Grail System, the Fifth Holy Grail War will take place in approximately ten years. And your new adopted son, Shirou, is going to be a Master. Also, the corruption of the Holy Grail still exists," said Zelretch; having the near infinite knowledge of his other selves made him seem omniscient sometimes.

Completely still at those words, Kiritsugu could only get out a barely existent whisper of, "What?"

"I'm entrusting you with a task, to help clean up the mess you've made. Train the boy to be the perfect Master, and teach him the arts of thaumaturgy as best you can. I will make the occasional stop by, to gauge his progress," responded the Wizard Marshall. Standing up, the vampire walked to Shirou's bedroom and silently entered with Kiritsugu right behind him. The operator of the Kaleidoscope passed the psychic connection to Naruto on to Shirou, and smiled in satisfaction. Symbiosis between the two boys separated by the thin walls of reality would push them both to new heights.

"What did you just do?" questioned Kiritsugu quietly.

Forgoing an answer, Zelretch straightened with a small smirk on his face. Turning and leaving, the old man made one last parting remark, "Oh yeah, I've got one more thing to say. This is a hint, and the only freebie you'll get from me: Swords." And then the elder vampire was gone, just as swiftly and silently as he appeared. And, standing alone in the dark of his home, Kiritsugu sighed. Things definitely did get much more interesting when Zelretch was involved, but he just wanted a boring life full of peace and quiet to finish out his days.

"I suppose I've got some calls to make," he muttered to himself. He would need some serious help to train this boy.

World of Shinju

The jounin commander of the Village Hidden in the Clouds was standing quietly on the balcony of his hotel, looking over the sprawling settlement of The Village Hidden in the Leaves. He was officially here to negotiate a truce between the two militant communities, because the ongoing war was starting to wear thin on the resources of both sides.

This meant that they would never be able to fight off outside forces if the need came about. Luckily The Village Hidden in the Mist was currently embroiled in a bloody civil war in the Land of Water, the Village Hidden in the Sand was altogether weak because The Leaf was taking their jobs, and the Village Hidden In the Stone was still recovering from their heavy losses in the Third Great War.

In all honesty, the Cloud was favored to win this particular collection of border skirmishes that had been dubbed a war, mostly because their demonic hosts dominated the battlefield. Yugito, the keeper of the Two-Tailed Monster Cat, and Kirabii, the container of the Eight-Tailed Giant Ox, were some of the most powerful fighters on their side. And the Third Raikage was damn near invulnerable through clever usage of lightning manipulation and sheer power.

Putting an end to the war between the Cloud and the Leaf was not the real goal of this ambassadorial mission. No, it was to acquire even more power in the name of his home village, and weaken their primary opponent in the process. The jounin commander, Kirito Yotsuki, had a secondary goal. The negotiations for peace were nothing more than a ruse to grant him diplomatic immunity, just on the off-chance that he got caught doing his true mission.

There was a list of targets that he was tasked with bringing back with him to The Cloud by any means necessary. All were high priority, and all were heavily secured. This is why he was chosen for this, because he was the most agile and stealthy shinobi in the ranks. He was the head of the Yotsuki clan, even being born with their incredibly rare bloodline limit: Swift Release. With this rare ability, he could perceive the world from a unique frame of reference for a short period. Everything around him seemed to be frozen, while he could move about freely.

It was an incredible ability, but it put a huge strain on his body, and he could only use it a few times before he would begin deteriorating from such high-speed movement. Plus it also always gave him a headache, but that was what happened when all the synapses in your brain begin overworking themselves. It was a tradeoff well worth the risk, since he was essentially capable of dodging any and all attacks that he was likely to come across. It also made him and his clan members that manifested the ability ideal for infiltration missions, which is what he was doing.

He closed his eyes, and willed his ability to activate. Kirito hopped gently off his balcony, before leisurely sprinting towards his first destination. From his point of view he was moving at an average speed for a shinobi, but from an outsider's point of view, he simply disappeared completely from his balcony; that was the awesome power that he and his clansmen wielded on battlefields. Within moments he was standing before the enormous gate that separated him from his target: Hinata Hyuuga.  
>_<p>

Kakashi Hatake crouched silently, keeping a watchful vigil over his erratic target. The veteran ANBU Captain may have been the most talented active operative for his age, but the prodigy didn't need his implanted Sharingan to know he was being given a break by the Third Hokage with this official ANBU assignment: babysitting the village's most hyperactive and unpredictable asset, Naruto Uzumaki.

The energetic blond child would pull off hilarious yet complicated pranks or just graffiti naughty words and graphic depictions of male genitalia in public place (it really just depended on the boy's finicky moods), while having multiple routes of escape to flee the resulting angry mobs of civilians and shinobi alike.

The child had ingenious trap designs and surreal escape strategies bouncing around in that tiny, shaggy head of his, but the child intentionally let it be known that he was the perpetrator of these masterworks was tactless. The child's invisible guardian shook his head as he watched the kid's sun-kissed golden hair swaying in the wind. The sneaky bastard just stole every pair of panties from the Hyuuga's Branch house and was pinning them against windows and light poles.

The boy looked like a signal flare to his Sharingan, the doujutsu forever crystallizing the mischievous grin of the orange garbed boy in Kakashi's memories. The child's chakra reserves were vast, one of the largest sources in the village, despite being barely five years old. If it weren't for the Hokage, Legendary Three, and Danzo, the demonic host would have the most raw energy out of everybody in the village. Naruto was a beacon of light, especially to the Byakugan, so it was a wonder how he was able to evade capture by the Branch Members for so long.

Kakashi's typically stoic face twitched in a rare facsimile of amusement before he regained composure. The Hyuuga were certainly giving chase, now that the little miscreant set off a stink bomb in the middle of their magnificent dining room. A veritable army of white eyed ninja were swarming Naruto's general direction, only to be caught in nets, pitfalls, and a catapult (a surprisingly high powered one judging from how far it flung Hoheto Hyuuga). All the while, the child was cackling maniacally.

But Kakashi's crimson eyes suddenly snapped towards the Hyuuga compound, the three tomoe spinning haphazardly. He watched a familiar figure enter from the outside at blinding speeds, an unnatural sort of agility that easily marked them as a ninja, and an amazingly agile one at that. The hidden ANBU Captain watched the diplomat from the Cloud actually trespass on sovereign Hyuuga property.

_'Would the Third Raikage actually think to break a truce just to gain another bloodline?'_ wondered Kakashi. And the Nine-Tail's host had inadvertently helped with this hastily put together black ops mission. Naruto Uzumaki was officially involved in the Hyuuga Affair now, and he dragged Kakashi Hatake along for the ride. He just hoped that nothing bad would come of this...  
>_<p>

The Hyuuga clan compound was constantly guarded by members of the Branch family, who were little more than slaves for the Main family to use as security guards and servants. As one of the four noble clans that helped to originally build the village, the Hyuuga had an expansive estate, an entire district dedicated solely to the white eyed member of the clan. Unlike their rivals, the Uchiha, they were not an autonomous district though; since the Uchiha were the police force, they were given special accolades to accommodate their responsibilities.

Jumping lazily over the gate, Kirito noticed that he appeared to be gate crashing a party of some kind. To his amusement, there was a toddler running towards the district's exit. The boy's golden hair and sapphire eyes pegged him as Naruto Uzumaki, the other target that Kirito was supposed to kidnap. While taking a walk earlier in the day, he'd bumped into the child and recognized him immediately. Thinking it would be better to follow the boy around for a while to get a grasp of the boy's personality, he did so in a transformation of somebody he saw in the market.

The child seemed so overjoyed at the prospect of having a friend, as if the thought was an alien concept to him, like forbidden fruit that he could look at but never dare to even touch. It made Kirito sick, to know that a village would treat one of their most valuable military assets with such scorn and disdain. In the Cloud, the keepers of tailed beasts were treated like royalty, given allowances due to the incredible burden they took on for the sake of the village. He couldn't see the boy wanting to stay in the Leaf when the Cloud would gladly offer him a home.

It might incite full-scale war between the two rival villages, but it was a price that he and his associates were willing to pay. Besides, it wasn't like the boy didn't have a legitimate claim to citizenship at the Cloud...

In the three-year old's arms were what appeared to be an entire pile of panties, and Kirito saw that there were some stuck to walls and ceilings in the boy's wake. And this amusing scene was now frozen in time to the Yotsuki.

So the boy was either a prankster or a pervert, both of which made Kirito grin. He knew that the host of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox would fit in rather well at the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Hell, since Kirabii and Yugito actually got some semblance of control over their powers and accompanying urges, the boy would likely have a better life away from his home village.

Hot on the child's trail was a veritable army of Hyuuga clansmen, some activating their doujutsu (Ocular Techniques) even as they gave chase. The Hyuuga clan's famed Byakugan (White Eyes) granted their owners incredible visual prowess: a nearly three hundred and sixty degree field of vision, the ability to see through solid objects and at incredible distances, and the ability to perceive chakra in such detail that their clan taijutsu (Body Techniques) could shut a person's body down with a tap. Any members of the Branch family have a cursed seal placed on them that destroys their eyes upon death so no outsiders can discover their secrets or try to replicate it. Fortunately, the young heiress of the clan is unmarked, and wouldn't even know how to fight yet.

Smirking, Kirito scooped up the blond, and continued merrily on his way toward his original target, Hinata. But there was a glint that caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw a kunai knife trailing slowly through the air, which showed just how impressive the arm that threw it truly was. Following the path of the blade back to its origin, the Cloud shinobi saw a member of The Leaf's ANBU forces, a figure with a single bright red-eye and a mane of silver gravity defying hair.

He knew those eyes. They were the infamous Sharingan (Copy Wheel Eye) wielded by the legendary Uchiha clan. He watched in amazement as their pupils actually followed his movement, even at the speed he was moving. Those sort of reflexes were unreal, and nobody in the Land of Lightning short of the highest masters of Lightning Release would be able to match them.

The figure in the trees sprang forward in a straight line towards Kirito, moving at sluggish speeds. But that his movement was even perceivable to the the Cloud ninja was shocking in and of itself. Blinking in surprise, he jumped away and stared at his new enemy in confusion. There was only one way somebody could keep up with him at this speed, and it was a basic technique that required linear and predictable motion paths. Whoever this person was, they were quite adept in the usage of the Body-Flicker Technique, which allows one to propel forward at 'untraceable' speeds.

Normally the technique results in tunnel vision, but apparently this ANBU guardian of Naruto had no qualms with using it to attack a foe; the single Sharingan he had likely negated the tunnel vision. The person shot forward again, in the process withdrawing a tanto from its holster and slashing confidently at the jounin commander. Those eyes glinted in the moonlight, the tomoe orbiting the pupils of his Sharingan at dizzying speeds, even from the special vantage point that Kirito had.

The Uchiha clan's Sharingan also bequeathed unworldly powers on to their masters, but in a much more direct manner than the Hyuuga clan's Byakugan: they gave a clarity of visual perception so profound that their reflexes were borderline precognitive, on nearly the same level as a Yotsuki's movements using their Swift Release. The Uchiha could also memorize anything they laid their cursed eyes upon down to the most minute detail for the rest of their lives, and copy any action seen with pinpoint accuracy and breathtaking precision. Their eyes were also the focal point of powerful ocular based genjutsu (Illusion Techniques), allowing them to cast illusions with minimal effort.

There were also rumors that the Sharingan could evolve to a higher form, one that granted even more powerful abilities to their owners, though such claims were unsubstantiated and usually besmirched as nothing more than ghost stories from the ancient times of warring clans. How could something as powerful as the Sharingan even get any more powerful than it already was? There are accounts of one of the Leaf's founders, Madara Uchiha, being capable of reshaping the landscape with the powers of his eyes alone, but surely those must be tall tales that have grown exaggerated over the decades since the man's death?

Regardless of what Kirito knew on a theoretical level, he knew that he was fighting an incredibly powerful swordsman. The ANBU shot forward again, sliding through the fabric of reality in a straight line. The Body-Flicker Technique was an odd thing to see in slow motion, simply because it made the user look like they were slipping across the ground at breakneck speeds. To anyone else, the movement would seem instantaneous, but to him it was just plain odd.

While their movements were beyond fast, they were still noticeable. They Hyuuga clansmen previously chasing the blond toddler could see blurs of movement and flashes of light bouncing off blades, but their eyes couldn't keep up with the sheer speed that the two opponents used. They knew that there was an incredibly high-powered shinobi fight happening right before them, but they couldn't even tell who was involved. They did, however, go to sound the alarm.

Kirito frowned as he watched them release a powerful pulse of chakra that washed over the area, much like an enormous beacon. The Hyuuga were sounding the alarm by releasing waves of energy that corresponded with Morse code symbols. Any and every sensor type ninja in the village was picking up on the distress signal loud and clear, and reinforcements would be converging on this spot very soon.

The masked swordsman almost crashed into him, but he dodged to the side and watched the ANBU skid past. After missing his opponent, the ANBU held out his hand, bathing his arm in the ethereal glow of Lightning Release chakra. The sparks of electricity zipping up and down the ANBU's appendage immediately gave his identity away, because that technique was unique and infamous to anybody that listened to the rumor mill. A member of the Leaf's ANBU division, the man in front of him was renowned for being cold-blooded and having decisive kills with his Lightning Cutter technique, of which the Cloud really wanted to get their hands on.

Stopping and dropping out of his Swift Mode, Kirito tilted his head to the side, sighed and said, "I see. I know who you are, and that just speeding past you won't work. You've built up a reputation over the years, Copycat. I wasn't sure at first of your identity, but now there's no doubt about it. It is an honor to face you in battle, though I think you've finally met your match."

The Copycat shrugged and replied, "I guess if you do something long enough, people will eventually take notice. You obviously know who I am, but that really doesn't matter to me. As a foreign dignitary, you are exempt from outright assassination, so I'm just supposed to bring you in... But since you're attempting to kidnap that boy, the rules don't exactly apply to you anymore." The implication of this statement was that Kirito would soon be dead, but the mere notion was laughable to the Cloud's commander.

Knowing that he'd have to end this incredibly quickly, Kirito entered Swift Mode again, watching as the world around him slowed to a crawl yet again. That chat was the only break his body was going to be getting until he left the Leaf, now that he was caught. Gritting his teeth, Kirito unsheathed his own katana and let go of his package. The rucksack hung in midair beside him, dropping so slowly from his perspective that it seemed anchored to its current position. Breathing out, the head of the Yotsuki clan dashed forward, just as his opponent was sliding back toward him for another chance to strike...  
>_<p>

Naruto was incredibly confused. One moment he was running away from the usual mob that showered him with jeers and insults after one of his grand schemes coming to fruition, and the next he was floating in the air for a moment and hearing the striking of metal on metal and the cries of terrified villagers. For a moment he felt weightlessness, which was incredibly disorienting considering how rapidly everything around him changed. Then he crashed into some solid surface and came to rest against it, which he assumed was the ground.

He saw for the first time in his young life the true intensity of a ninja battle. He felt helpless in the face of such intense violence, but there was also a stirring deep in his stomach, something that told him that this was his calling. Two shadows were zipping about the Hyuuga clan's compound so fast that they appeared to be nothing more than glints of steel. Their movements were nearly undetectable to the boy, but he watched nonetheless with rapturous attention. Erupting before him was a conflict that could potentially be lethal to anybody in the vicinity, and yet he still lay rooted to the ground in a curious cocktail of fear and excitement.

Then suddenly, both parties stopped. On one side, there stood a member of the Leaf's ANBU. On the other, stood a man wearing the uniform of a foreign ninja village, though Naruto couldn't tell which faction it represented. In the outsider's arm was a small girl, about his age. She had short, dark blue hair and lavender eyes. Clearly she was a Hyuuga, as well as a hostage on top of that.

The infiltrator was surrounded on all sides by the Byakugan wielding clan members and was faced down with someone who was born without any bloodline limit yet possessing one of the most powerful abilities in the world, the Sharingan. It really showed the man's skill, that he stood confident before such opposition with a smirk on his sweat streaked face.

"Naruto Uzumaki, do you know why you are neglected and persecuted throughout this village?" asked Kirito. The ANBU made to step forward but Kirito remonstrated, "If any of you even think about intercepting my hand before it slits this girl's throat, by all means try. Just know that none of you have a snowflake's chance in hell of succeeding."

That halted everyone, and Kirito turned his attention back to Naruto. "The reason that you are hated... well, the Fourth Hokage couldn't actually kill the Nine-Tails, so he had to seal it away. But not just any everyday object would do. No, he had to use a person, preferably a young one that could adapt to the magnitude of power the creäture brought forth. And that child... was you. You are the-" but his words were halted when one of the Hyuuga clansmen decided to rush at the the Cloud shinobi.

But Naruto didn't care; he looked down at his own hands while things happened around him. That man was going to say that _he_ was the Nine-Tails. And that would make sense. From the moment he achieved self-awareness, and understood that he had an identity, he realized that everyone treated him differently. The constant negativity thrown his way was certainly noticeable, and he always thought it was because of his whiskers, or his unusual hair. But now he knew.

His hand clenched into a fist. He heard the rushing of his blood in his ears. His vision went blurry with tears. Then everyone around him moved at once, and he heard the anguished scream of someone whose loved one just died before their eyes.

The rush of movement was disorienting, but Naruto saw the result. Laying on the ground at the enemy ninja's feet was a man, a member of the Hyuuga clan. Blood was gushing out of his neck, pooling on the floor and reflecting the glare of a nearby lamp. A man, clearly the head of the clan, turned a murderous glare skyward as he roared, "Hizashi!"

But before the boss of the Hyuuga family could enact his vengeance, Kakashi Hatake whispered from behind Kirito, "I waited until the moment that your chakra calmed down, because I could tell that your incredible agility was a byproduct of it. Normally I would never be able to land a strike on someone as fast as you, but the element of surprise is such a funny thing. The moment you got leverage, you dropped your guard. It is this mistake that has ended this farce."

The shinobi from the Cloud pitched forward with a sickening crack, and the ANBU that held the brunt of his weight prior to this moment shot forward to catch the little girl before she hit the ground as well. "Your daughter, Lord Hyuuga," said the ANBU as he gently set the frail girl on the ground. She shyly looked at his face, but immediately looked back towards the ground when she saw his crimson eye.

Hinata had watched in fascination as a figure in the shadows struck out at her unaware captor, knocking the man unconscious with minimal effort. Her rescuer's eyes were mesmerizing: one glowing crimson in the pale moonlight with three spinning tomoe orbiting the tiny pupils while the other was obscured by shadow. Even though his face was hidden behind an ANBU regulated mask, she knew that he was an Uchiha, and a young one at that. She was almost three, not stupid, which meant that people often gossiped in front of her without realizing that she understood.

She'd heard the older members of her clan complaining about how the Uchiha were gaining more and more power with every passing year. But somehow, in the moments before she fainted from exhaustion and psychological trauma, she briefly questioned why her own clan was falling behind their rivals. As the darkness overcame her, Hinata realized that the Uchiha were stronger than the Hyuuga: because they were more powerful, more controlled. The presence of her savior felt both colder and sharper than her own father, the leader of the entire clan.

Her uncle had died right before her eyes, and she somehow immediately understood what it meant. It was strange, how the discovery of the existence of death was a revelation that knocked your breath away. Her uncle had died right before her eyes, and she knew that it was because he wasn't strong enough to survive against the bad man who took her. But the (supposed) Uchiha had survived relatively unscathed, and even emerged victorious from their bouts. Her head lulled backwards and she closed her eyes.

She now had a goal in mind, one that was practically blasphemous to her contemporaries.

And Naruto, who nobody was paying attention to, cried silently at the revelation of his burden. And looking over all of this, from a moderate distance away from the ruckus, was an old man who had a cold gaze in his beady eyes. Rubbing his scraggly beard in thought, he smirked slightly and turned away, deciding that his plan to destroy The Leaf could happen a little earlier than he anticipated.  
>_<p>

A few hours later, the Third Hokage was sitting warily behind his desk, a letter with the insignia of the Raikage's office embossed on the gilded paper. He clenched his wrinkled fists as he continued reading. "As per the stipulations of the recently enacted Treaty of Peace between The Village Hidden in the Clouds and The Village Hidden in the Leaves, the Third Raikage decrees that the Kirito Yotsuki must be transferred back to his official village for disciplinary actions against his unsanctioned assault of a The Leaf civilian..." said Hiruzen aloud.

Hiashi Hyuga snarled, "I will not allow those traitors to have the bastard that tried to kidnap my daughter for their disgusting breeding programs under any circumstances. Hitomi would certainly never allow for this course of action!" The head of one of the most powerful clans in The Leaf spoke with the kind of raw emotion that could bring lesser men to tears of rage. He was even talking of his recently wife, who died in labor with his youngest daughter just a few months ago. "If it means we must continue this war-"

Hiruzen nipped that thought in the butt right then and there, "We cannot violate the terms of a treaty we signed into law less than twenty four hours ago. If the Yotsuki clan head was successful in his attempts, then maybe. But I don't see what other choice we have-"

In yet another surprising display of emotion, Hiashi questioned, "Why are we bending to the whims of the Cloud? They are the ones that attempted to kidnap the heiress of my family! They are the ones responsible for the death of my brother! I want blood, Hiruzen. Do you hear me!? If it wasn't for the timely arrival of Kakashi-san, the Byakugan would be in enemy hands. Do you have any idea-"

"I'm perfectly aware of the implications, Hiashi," said Hiruzen. "We absolutely won't tolerate this sort of behavior from any of our allies in the future. But we cannot destroy this peace that we've fought so hard to get. This is the first time the Leaf hasn't been at war since... since the death of the First Hokage." Even after all these years he still felt a small pang at the thought of one of his teachers. "I'm just tired of constantly fighting..."

The old man's Will of Fire was finally starting to wither after all these years. The wars, the betrayals... they were beginning to catch up to the old timer. To think, that he should be retired already by about five years... But his musing was torn asunder by the Hyuuga's clipped tones, "I will not sit idly by and watch as we do nothing to the man who just caused an international incident involving my daughter. An example must be made; otherwise others will think to try the same thing-"

"Hiashi," interrupted Hiruzen quietly, "I don't like this either, but it seems we have no other choice. I don't think we can afford to continue this war any longer, not after all these years..."

"He broke your law! Anybody who mentions that Naruto has the Nine-Tails sealed within him is to be executed! How can you just let something so important just slide!?" yelled Hiashi.

Hiruzen sighed and said, "I'm aware of that. Between all of the corroborated reports and an alert seal provided by Jiraiya on my request that lets me know if Naruto learning this before he's ready, how could I not? The seal alarms went off, and... I was planning on revealing this to Naruto when he graduated from the Academy, but his learning this earlier than anticipated has brought forth some unforeseen consequences. I doubt he trusts me anymore. Regardless, as a shinobi from a foreign village, our domestic policies don't apply to him. Though that such a person had such confidential information is... troublesome. We'll need to launch an investigation into that leak as soon as possible. I'm getting too old for this shit..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **So... was it good for you? If you would kindly**** favorite, follow, and/or share the story with communities, I would greatly appreciate it. ********Do you have any questions, comments, or concerns? Feel free to leave a review.****

****As a perfectionist, I take great pride in my work and even more so in the fact that I don't have a BETA Reader going over every single detail. If you notice something grammatically or mechanically incorrect, please let me know. If there is a difference in lore between this and the source material that you dislike, that is either on purpose for the sake of story telling, or simply to make the story that much more interesting in my opinion. ****

****W**hat would you rate each of the below categories for this chapter: **Plot Progression, Characterization****, Environmental Imagery, **Emotive Descriptions**, Action Sequences, Verisimilitude, **Grammar and Syntax**, **and Writing Style?**********


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